Sri Lanka It's Happening

July 28, 2004

The very first time a government lead by the current president was elected to power the country's economy went into a freefall - not because of what they did (they did make plenty of mistakes) but because of what they were saying.

The PA (now the UPFA) ministers have a knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. We Sri Lankans know that they never practice what they preach and tend to dismiss them as idle chatter but the same cannot be said about foreign investors.

Foriegners have this crazy idea that if a minister says such and such a policy is to be implemented, it will eventually happen. We Sri Lankans know that the exact opposite is what is likely to happen but that's scant comfort for the investors who shut down factories and offices to rush their money to neighbouring countries.

The ministers are now back to their old habits. One speaks of regulating the foreign currency markets and another speaks of making it compulsory for companies established in Sri Lanka to have a local partner.

Posted by raditha at July 28, 2004 6:25 AM